We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him:

“God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the

bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them

may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy

will always!”

We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon

ourselves utterly to Him.

Seventh Step Prayer

-The Seventh Step Prayer is from page 76. The Big Book

When ready, we say something like this:

“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now

remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you

and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.”

We have then completed Step Seven.

-(Both derived from page 86 in the Big Book)

St Francis Prayer

-From Chapter 11 of “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions”

“Lord, make me a channel of they peace,

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.”

St. Francis Assisi (1182-1228).

==============================“We are all thinking, willing, knowing,conscious centers of Life. We are surroundedby, immersed in, and there is flowing through us a creative something… call it what you will.”

Ernest Holmes

I have the Serenity Prayer, I use it as a Battle Cry.

Anonymous

Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Anonymous

“Words are the shadow of reality.
If the shadow can be attractive,
imagine how much more so can the reality be.”

RUMI

ACIM Workbook Lesson 9 Insights

“I see nothing as it is now.”

When I go to a movie and sit down and watch the story unfold, someone next to me may say to me, “The events you are seeing on the screen are not really happening now. The movie was made several years ago and you are just viewing it now.” While in the middle of watching the movie, it appears as if the story is not over. It appears as if the scene being enacted in that moment is really happening right now.

I am learning through the Course that my life experiences are like watching a movie that was over long ago. The Course speaks of the “tiny tick of time” in which the Son of God forgot to laugh at such foolish ideas. When I watch a movie, I often get very wrapped up in the story, and laugh or cry at the events that seem to be happening at that moment.

I am learning to look at my life experiences in the same way. The Course is telling me that what I am seeing is not there now. It is over. That tiny tick of time is over. We all are in Heaven now. The Son of God is one. The millions of bodies that seem to dance on the stage of separation are seen clearly now for the nothingness that it always was.

Reminding myself often, “I see nothing as it is now,” will help to jog my mind out of taking this movie of separation so seriously. I need this help, because it does appear that this moment in the dream is happening now, just like when I watch the movies. As I practice again and again, stepping back and taking what appears to be happening now to the Holy Spirit, I am shown what will help me in the moment. I came from Love, I am Love now and Love is all that could ever be real.

A world of separation, a world of differences and bodies, a world of time a space, is a movie that is over. It was always just a movie of separation that could never be real. I can relax now. I can let my mind be healed of all my delusions of separation, minute by minute, day by day. I can forget and make the world real again and again, but it means nothing. No one has lost their innocence. Separation from God, from Love, could never be. I am grateful that this is so.

As I was doing today’s exercise, I was struck by the fact that even to do the exercise, I had to rely on my past learning. In order to name the object that I do not see as it is now, I look to my past learning to give it a label. It shows me how the past permeates all my thinking through the day.

In the process of waking up, I do not need to try to totally erase my past learning. I do need to learn that all my thoughts from the past are not here, and are therefore not real. It is only my belief that the thoughts from the past are true that engenders fear, loss, guilt and all the other myriad emotions of the ego. As long as I still seem to be seeing through the body’s eyes, there will still be memories of the past, my past learning coming up to give meaning to what I think I am seeing.

What is important is that I give these meanings in the moment to the Holy Spirit and ask for His reinterpretation. It is this moment by moment practice that will free me from my investment of reality in what is not here. It is this process that provides the means to escape from the past I have held on to in my mind.

My job is to develop the moment by moment practice of recognizing thoughts from the past, turning them over to the Holy Spirit and receiving the blessing of His perception. From this comes peace and joy eternal. It will bring me to the gate of Heaven, where I will have wholly forgiven myself and all the world.

It is important that I have great compassion for myself and my brothers as I begin to recognize the unreality of the dream, and allow Holy Spirit to gently loosen the chains that shackle my mind. There will be blocks of resistance. This is part of the process. As I recognize resistance it is important to be patient and gentle and loving with myself and others as I practice my lessons and experience a world as a loosely veiled dream.

It is important that I be present with what is in my mind, even the moments of resistance, the moments of grace, the miracles that unfold in giving every moment to Spirit. I heal as I am present with each moment and know that I am loved beyond measure and safe at Home in Heaven now.